Don’t you hate it when real life suddenly hits you in the gut? Literally!

That happened last week – first Stu has the most miserable birthday lunch you can think of, then I come down with it on Sunday, a friend comes down with it on the same day and a second friend comes down with it on Monday! What a nasty piece of work!

So, I spent most of last week fighting a wonderful stomach virus. Maybe it was payback for what I do to my characters…..

In other news, the covers for Dark Dimensions 1 and 2 are getting closer and once they’re up and running, I’ll send out Heart of Deception and Legacy of Risks to get those checked before getting the covers for them finalised.

What else have I done? I’ve been rewriting a story I wrote in January and it’s far better and more complex than what it had been.

On a different note, I will include this here.

I have watched all of Flashforward. What a series! I was very impressed with it, even though I haven’t read the book. I think it was very well done and kept the interest of the viewer through the entire series.

Now, remember, this is only my opinion.

I found the plot fascinating and full of possibilities and I love where they left it. Certainly open if they ever got the funding to do another mini-series.

What I did find fascinating was Joseph Fiennes – the main actor. He is the brother of the well-known Ralph Fiennes but has amazing similarities to Christopher Lambert. I kept waiting for the Scottish accent of Connor MacLeod to come shining through. Fiennes kept fairly much to an American accent the whole way through, but I am not an expert on American accents, so if he slipped, I apologise.

This resonated with me quite a lot because of the number of stories I’ve written where people move through alternate universes or different dimensions. That’s what I meant by the possibilities brought out by the show were numerous.

The other show I watched was The Listener. Now, this show intrigued me and had me watching through all the plot holes, poor writing and poor acting. Somehow, it just captured my attention. The premise, for me, was captivating and thank you, Canada, for creating this little gem. Going to sort out the fire now!

So, I got my results back on my first assessment – 19 out of 30. Not bad for a beginner! Well, I’m happy with it. Especially at this late stage! Anywho, in Wade Wilson’s words, two more assessments to go.

I have just about got Dark Dimensions ready for the cover art. Just a few more tweaks to both parts, then that’s the next stage.

Then I’ll tweak the two books from the Consequences series – Heart of Deception and Legacy of Risks and get them ready for cover art.

After that, it’ll be The Dark Road, but that has not been past the editor, yet.

Hopefully, in between all that, I’ll get my murder mystery completed as an entirely different book. I am assuming that’s a standalone book (fingers crossed).

For those of us in Australia – did you know that the Australian dictionary in Word doesn’t match the Macquarie Dictionary? Which is the official dictionary for business and writing in Australia – although not mandatory and I’m not saying that at all. I was just a little surprised that Word got it wrong.

For that reason, I now have a disclaimer in my books advising readers that they are written to the Australian Government Style Manual and Macquarie Dictionary – meaning, I consulted those while I was writing.

And, of course, I could go on forever about the differences and inconsistencies in the English language, whether it’s US English, Australian, Canadian or British. I find the whole of the English language is quite fascinating with how we all navigate such a mish-mash of a language. I always thought it was ‘just English’ but now I know a whole heap more.

So, I’m a third of the way through my editing course and I’ve learnt so much that just makes sense of what I learnt as a kid.

It’s funny – as a pantser, I go through and I write by the seat of my pants – including grammar, punctuation and all that. I’ve never really known the laws of grammar and punctuation but I’m starting to, now. It’s all starting to come together in terms of what the teachers tried to tell me when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Such a great course!

And I know how commas and the Oxford comma work – and how semi-colons and colons work. Phew! Always used them the right way!

First assessment has been submitted, so now just waiting on the results of that (jittery here!)

So, onto other things.

I have a week to go on prepping the current story for the competition, then I will have a final look over at Dark Dimensions Part 2 and start working on getting part 1 and 2 published. I have the fourth book in the series ready to go but I really have to get stuck into the book between Dark Reign and The Dark Road.

I have been through the two books currently in the Consequences series and they are ready to go to beta readers. Those are the next on the list.

As some of you know, I have been playing with a book of smut. This has become like a study a painter or sketcher would do of a subject. I have used this character to see how far I can push the boundaries of the types of situations I can put a character in and I’ve shared the latest with some friends who have demanded it be published. So, now I’m contemplating that.

If I do, this book will go under a pseudonym because it is a dark exploration into the depths that some humans will go to hurt other people – and I do mean DARK.

Onto lighter things, our weather has been beautiful but on Wednesday we’re looking at high-temps again! Gah! Just when I thought it would be time to go walking and look what happens!

Anway, that’s it for now!

My gosh! It’s Autumn already! How did that happen????

Okay, I have some news. Dark Dimensions part 2 is completely edited and I will be in touch with my cover artist regarding the two parts.

I have started my editing course and have already learnt a lot of things that I wasn’t quite sure about before – I mean, how many people really know how commas work? And do you or don’t you use Oxford commas? Now I know.

And I thought I had apostrophes down pat, but found I learnt something with those as well. So, I’m rather pleased with the course as a whole.

Our weather has cooled down somewhat, so I might actually go and sit outside today and read a book – or two. Unsure yet, hell, it’s Sunday.

I have also been working on the book for the competition and had some more ideas about that overnight, so I might, instead, work on that. I have until the end of the month for it to be as ready as possible for the competition.

I am still working on that murder mystery set in Sydney and the Consequences series is almost ready, also.

Now, some of you are aware I’ve been toying with some smut and from some fun feedback I’ve had, It might actually be worth publishing. That won’t be for a very long time, though. And there’s a cross-over with a TV show that I’d have to rewrite to remove copyright infringements, too. But that’s if I decide to publish it. At the moment, I’m using it to explore techniques of writing and it’s paying off.

Well, that’s it for about now! I should have more news in a fortnight!

Bye for now!

Where is the year going???? It’s too fast!!!

Updates:

Feedback on Dark Dimensions 2 is due back next week, so hopefully, that will be it sorted and I can look at publishing it.

Not long after that will be Dark Reign, that’s had a quick going over and should be ready to go.

I have gone through both Consequences books – Heart of Deception and Legacy of Risks and rewritten those ready as Edition 2.

Please note:

Dark Dimensions, Heart of Deception and Legacy of Risks have had to be rewritten as Edition 2s as Amazon Australia will not pull the originals down even though Amazon US has. Most of the storylines are the same, however, I have taken out superfluous information and added other information that should have been included the first time.

I am hoping these changes enrich your experience as a reader.

I still can’t wait for my editing course to begin – that should be exciting!

Weatherwise? We had rain! Currently having a couple of low temperature days before the warmth hits again – predicted not to be high 30s, low 40s, but warm, though.

And the spa works wonderfully!

That’s all! Catch you all next fortnight!

Well, the year is advancing at a phenomenal rate. Why is it, the older you get the faster it seems to go? No clue from here.

Okay, my cover artist, the dear Jerome, has been working on images of The Stronghold for Dark Dimensions. They look awesome!

I have updated Dark Dimensions Part 2 with some feedback but still waiting on more. Hopefully the next week or so.

I have finished editing that story for the competition, but I have one question – why is it I always see another story coming out of this? Who knows! I am currently looking for beta readers for it, but they need to get it back to me by the end of February.

I have been through Heart of Deception (Consequences 1) and will go through it yet again before sending it to beta readers. Again, looking for beta readers for it, but that doesn’t have such a tight schedule on it.

I am currently checking over Dark Reign and after that will be going through Legacy of Risks.

Amongst all this, I am looking forward to my editing course beginning in March (I think 18th?).

And during all this activity, we’re still in the high 30s, low 40s for the coming week. When will we stop melting???? Well, we did predict it last year, so we just have to live with it. We’re cleaning out the spa to get it up and running again.

That’s it for now, have a great fortnight!

So, as you all know, I’m participating in a competition at the moment. We had all of January to write 50,000 and now we have two months to polish the manuscript and get it ready to submit.

So, far, I’m about half-way through my first real edit. Once I’ve finished that, I will give it a few days before I do the next edit. I don’t know how many I’ll have to do. The weird part is, I think there’s at least 2 or 3 books that could follow on from it.

I’m also about to get back into the rewrite of Heart of Deception. I had to leave it for a while, not only because of the above competition, but when I went to rewrite the last bit, I ended up getting sucked back into the story. Oh, dear, I told myself.

Also, I will be editing the second part of Dark Dimensions so that when I get the last of the feedback back from the beta readers, I’ll be able to complete that polishing and get that cover art done, also, in anticipation of uploading both parts.

And with all of the above, from Tuesday we are heading back into high 30s, low 40s. Poor kids, it’s the first week back for them and they have to put up with that kind of weather. I remember those days. At least I have a spa, now.

That’s about it from this end. Will update in a couple of weeks!

Hello, all! Thank you for following my humble ruminating.

Dark Dimension’s cover art is still being done, while Part 2 is still with the beta readers.

I have written the story basics for iFlow Creative and am currently tidying that up for the rest of the competition. The twist I put in it, the sci fi twist, has run its course, my protagonist has faced the antagonist, but there was another twist. The girl he fell for at the start of the story did not return to his home with him. Instead, she’s demanded a proper courtship with him. So, not quite a “no”, but not a definite “yes”. Watch this space.

Yes, I am starting to get itchy fingers about Heart of Deception, but I’m sticking with my guns on that. Still a few weeks to go.

Perth’s heatwave had a little bit of an ease, lower temps this week coming, but by next weekend, it should be back to the high thirties.

For those who may know about Milo, another character that I’ve started working with, he’s on hold until I finish this competition.

And for those in the area, Grow Write started up again last Thursday. Visit the Grow Write group on Facebook for prompts and round-robins.

And that’s it! I am forced to admit that I’m watching The Curse of Oak Island today. Don’t judge! I’m in it for the archaeological processes!